Mail-bag catcher.



No. 896,575. PATBNTED AUGyls, 1908. E. W. REGB. MAIL BAG OATCHER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2B, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1 No. 898,575. K PATBNTED AUG. 18, 1908. v

E. W. RECH.-

MAIL BAG CAMPER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.'

Ewfc' Zfaec@ 618mm Mou l PATENTED AUG. 18, 1908.

E. W. RECE.

MAIL BAG CATGHER. v APPLIGATIQN FILED nu. 2a, 190e.

BSHEETS-SHEET 3.

wi h1 @ons EUSTAGE W. RECE, OF CHELYAN, WEST VIRGINIA.

MAIL-BAG CATCHER. u

Specification of Letters Patent.

'Patented Aug. 18, 1908.

Application led January 28, 1908. Serial No. 413,042.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, EUsrAoE W. Rnon, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Chelyan, in the county of Kanawha and State of WestVirginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mail-BagCatchers, oi' which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to mail bag catchers, and one of the principalobjects of the same is to provide means actuated by a moving train forswinging the mail bag crane into position to support a mail bag and tomove the catcher into line with the bag so that the latter is caught andcarried into the mail car as the train moves on.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for automaticallypresenting a mail bag in position to be caught by a catcher on the mailcar, means being provided to automatically return the catcher and craneto a position out of the way of another train which may be coming on thesame track.

These and other objects may be attained by means of the constructionillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of two railway tracks in which the carsare supposed to run in the directions indicated by the arrows thereon.Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the trigger and its operatingmechanism. Fig. 3 is a side elevation and partial section, showing themail bag catcher and crane forming part of my invention.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation and partial section of the crane support.Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view showing the two channel bars formingthe support for the crane and the pivoted stops. Fig. 6 is a detail viewpartially in section, showing the mechanism for operating the catchermember. Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of the horizontal arm, thelatter being broken away.

Referring to the drawings for a more specific description of myinvention, the numerals 1 and 2 designate two railw.r y tracks lyingside by sido, and located between the two tracks is the crane lorsupporting the mail bag. The crane consists of the supporting legs 3 andthe upright members 4, the latter being shown as formed of angle ironbars secured to a base disk 5 by means of angular brackets 6. Secured tothe disk 5 are handles or stops 7, said stops being ivoted at 8 toangular brackets 9, one at eac side of the double standard. Supportedbetween the legs 3'is a metal plate 10, and secured to said plate is asocket 1 1 in which is seated a rotary bolt 12 around which is coiled aspring 13, one end of which is secured to the socket 11 and the oppositeend secured to the rotary bolt. The upper end of the rotary bolt issquared, as at 14, to it a squared opening in the disk 5.

Pivoted at 15 between the uprights 4 is the crane 16 having suitablemeans for 'supporting a mail bag 18 at its outer end, while its innerend 19 is weighted. The parallel arm 20 is pivoted at 21,.and a wire orother flexible connection 22 is attached at one end to the weight 19 andthe opposite end of the arm 20. The result of this construction is thatwhen the mail bag 13 has been removed the weight 19 will swing downwardand thus swing the crane 16 into a vertical position, while the arm 20will drop to a position in alinement with the members 4 and will liebetween the same.

Located at some distance from the crane and at the side of the innerrails of the two tracks are the triggers, each consisting of a casing 23having a central opening 24 therein. The casing is tapered from acentral point outward to the ends, and disposed in the opening 24 is atrigger 25 provided with a shank 26 to which is pivoted at 27 a lever2S, said lever having a stop or detent 29 and said lever being pivotedat 30 to the casing. A spiral spring 31 supports the trigger 25 normally. A slide rod 32 extends through the casing 23 and is rovided witha shoulder 33 which is engage by the stop 29 on the lever 28. The slidebar 32 is centrally recessed, as at 34, and extending through thisrecess is the shank 26 of the trigger 25. A spiral spring 35 isconnected at one end to the sliding rod 32, and the opposite end bearsagainst the casing 23. One of the ends of the sliding rod 32 is slotted,as at 36, and a lever 37 pivoted at 38 is connected in the slot 36 tothe sliding rod 32. Flexible wires or connections 39 are attached to theends of the lever 37, said connections passing over pulleys 40 and beingconnected at their opposite ends to a three-armed lever 41 pivoted at 42and provided with an arm 43 to which a connecting rod 44 is pivoted.

Connected to the rod 44 is a bell crank lever 45 pivoted at 46 andhaving connected to one of its arms an upright rod 47, one upon eachside of the crane support or standspring is secured to the shaft, andthe opposite'end bears against the side 'of the car. When it is desiredto hold the catcher out of operative position a p in is inserted in aneye 56 which-passes through a slot 57 in a lug 5S formed on the shaft52. A lug 59 extends from the end of the shaft 52. A connecting rod 60mounted to slide in keepers 61 is attached to a lever 62 pivoted at 63.The'endko'lY the lever 62 projects through a sleeve 64 and engages anotch 65 in a rod 66 which supports at its lower end a wheel 67 adaptedto run upon the car track. Braces 68 extend from the sleeve 64 to thecar. The rod 66 at its upper end passes through the car loor and isprovided with a pin 69 to form a stop for said rod, and a weight 70 adated to bear upon the upper end. o'l' the rod liolds the wheel 67 downupon the track.

As the wheel 67 passes over the trigger 25 the latter is depressedagainst the tension of spring 31, and the stop 29 is withdrawn `from theshoulder 33 of the sliding rod 32. The spring 35 then exerts its forceto push the rod 32 outwardly to operate the lever 37 and the flexibleconnections 39 which operate the lever 41 to push inward on the rod 44.This pulls downward upon one of the upright rods 47, and alter the up erend of said rod has been pulled down be ow one of the handles 48 thetension of spring 31 rotates the bolt 12 and with it the disk 5 and thestandards 4 to throw the crane 16 and a mail bag toward the movingtrain. In the meantime the rod 66 is raised, and the connecting rod 69is depressed from underneath the lug 59.

The spring 54 then exerts its tension to throw the catcher arm 51downward until the diverging arms 50 are in line with the center of themail bag. rIhe handles 48 and the springs are set by hand and areoperated by the moving train.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. A mail bag catcher comprising a crane, crane-operating means tendingto dispose the crane in position to permit the bag carried thereby to beicked up by a passing car, means for securing the crane in aninoperative position against the tension of its operating means, atrigger arranged adjacent one of the track rails and adapted to engageand secure the crane-supporting means in operative position, a bagcatcher' mounted on the car, means for holding said catcher normally ininoperative position, and means carried by the car to engage and operatethe trigger to release the cranesecuring means, said car-carried meansbeing ada )ted to simultaneously release the bag cato er.

2. In a mail bag catcher, a crane comprising spaced angle irons, armspivoted between said angle irons, one of said arms being weighted, aflexible connection extending from one arm to the other, and means forsupporting a mail bag between said arms.

3. In a mail bag catcher, the combination of a crane, means forsupporting a mail bag upon said crane, a bag catcher mounted on the car,means whereby said catcher is normally held parallel with the side ofthe car, a shaft, a roller thereon, a sleeve through which said shaftextends, a lever actuated by the movement of said shaft, and means formoving said bag catcher out into line with the mail bag, said meanscomprising a trigge'r secured to the car track.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EUSTACE IV. RECE. Witnesses C. C. MOORE, E. I-I. MEADows.

